House Judiciary Approves Satellite Bill Unanimously

By a vote of 34 to 0, the House Judiciary Committee Wednesday voted to approve the Satellite Home Viewer Update and Reauthorization Act (SHVURA), the latest version of legislation reauthorizing the copyright license that allows satellite broadcasters to retransmit distant TV station signals. The bill allows DISH network to get back into the distant signal business, at least when it comes to filling so-called short markets--one without all four major broadcast network affiliates. But DISH had to promise to deliver local TV station signals in all 210 markets. That means adding signals in 28 markets, according to Rep Rick Boucher (D-VA), chairman of the House Communications Subcommittee, who had pushed DISH and broadcasters to come up with a deal on delivering local-into-local service in all the Nielsen markets. The bill also fixes the so-called phantom signal issue that has required cable operators to pay for signals they weren't delivering to customers, redefines those eligible for distant network signals so that signals that bleed over from adjacent markets don't disqualify that importation, allows for the in-market distribution of noncommercial TV stations if part of a state network, and updates the satellite and cable licenses to reflect the switch to digital.